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Why Preparing for your ESL Class is Important

Written by Robert Vance on April 11, 2008 – 12:03 am

I need to make a confession. It is time to humble myself. Sometimes I am not a good ESL teacher. Why? Quite simply, I am often lazy. I do not want to prepare for my class. After all, I am teaching my own language. I should be able to make something up on the spot, right? But that thinking is flawed. When I do not prepare for my classes, the hours drags by. I am always having to think about what I am going to teach next. I am always afraid that I am going to run out of ideas.

Preparing for your ESL classes will make your life easier; it is a fact. Some ESL teachers spend hours writing up their lesson plans, creating activities and games, and writing comprehension questions. While I commend those teachers (and envy their enthusiasm), I think that even just 20 minutes preparation for each lesson can make a big difference. I have found so many times that when I walk into a class with a solid game plan, the time flies by and my teaching experience is much more enjoyable.

Creating a lesson plan does not have to be difficult. In fact, if you use a template, the process should be pretty easy. Your lesson should contain some basic elements that mix fun with learning. You may also want to add an optional activity in case you run through your main material too fast. Here is a sample lesson template for your consideration. Of course you should change it as you see fit.

ESL Lesson Topic: Using the Telephone

Warmup (10 minutes): I will greet my students. While I am greeting them I will make my phone ring and I will answer it in class. I will have a conversation with myself. Then I will explain to my students that we are going to talk about answering the telephone in English. I will ask one or two of my students to tell me how they answer the phone in Chinese at home.

Teaching Time (10 minutes): I will teach my students some common greetings for the telephone.

Hello

Good Morning

Good Afternoon

Good Evening

I will explain to my students that it is more polite to answer the phone using the last three greetings.

I will then write the following dialogue on the board for the students to read:

A. Good Morning/Good Evening/Good Afternoon
B. Hello, may I speak with your mother please?

A. Yes. May I ask who is calling?

B. This is your math teacher.

C. Ok. Just a moment please!

I will then practice this dialogue with my students using repitition. I may even use a pointing game to help them have some fun.

Practice (25 minutes): I will use my cell phone and an eraser for this activity. I will call two students up at a time. One will hold my cell phone (or a suitable substitute) and the other will hold the eraser. I will ask the two students to talk to each other using the dialogue that I have written on the board. I will ask the rest of the class to make the ring using their voices. I will instruct the students to use different greetings depending on different times of the day.

Wrapup (10 minutes): I will Review the greetings again and make sure that the words are being pronounced correctly. If I have time, I will play a game with the students. (Hangman, for example is a popular game to play in the ESL classroom).

This lesson plan is very simple but it will help me to be and act more organized. This lesson plan will also help me to remember important points that pertain to my topic. Of course, I can always add or take away from the lesson plan as I teach. I can also save the lesson plan for future classes.

If you are not feeling motivated to create your own lesson plan, you can always find plans on the web. Just go to Google and type in ESL Lesson Plans. The China Teaching Web is also planning on offering ESL Lesson Plans in the near future so make sure you check back often. Just remember that a lesson plan can help you to streamline your classes and be a more confident teacher.

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